Monday, January 9, 2012

Bars of the Inner Richmond: A Limited Survey

Here's some news: We're moving to the Inner Richmond. Long story, but there it is. As it happens, we will be occupying the top floor of a 2-unit building and The Sister is on the bottom floor. This is not the setup for a sitcom, although now that I think about it, it has certain sitcom-ish potential.

ANYWAY on Saturday The Sister and I checked out some of our new neighborhood bars. I've been to all these places, so technically it wasn't a New Bar Night, but it's been years so it sort of was. We were out between roughly 7 and 9 pm, so we probably didn't get the Full Saturday Effect, but that's enough disclaimers now. Here's where we went:

We walked into Buckshot, took one look around, and walked out. It looked like a bunch of kids at a county fair where they happened to serve booze, what with all the skee ball and shuffleboard and picnic tables. I hope someone's checking IDs. (Also, their website says "Be excellent to each other. And... PARTY ON, DUDES! - - - - - - - - poop on a stick!" That probably tells you everything you need to know about Buckshot.)

Next we went to Ireland's 32. I actually kinda like Ireland's 32, as far as Irish bars go, but Saturday night it was in full sports bar mode, with the Saints-Lions playoff game blaring from all 15 or whatever TVs. I'm not opposed to sports bars per se, but it just wasn't what we were looking for. I've been there other nights and had a good time though.

Maintaining the Irish theme, the next stop was the Plough & Stars on Clement. Nice enough place, but The Sister's drink was super-weak which made her more surly than normal. Perhaps sticking with beer here would be advisable. Also, apparently not everyone's drinks were weak, because there was a group of super shitfaced guys careening around the bar. Ah, youth. Maybe it'll be more of a weeknight bar.

Moving down Clement, we came to the Bitter End, which might be a semi-Irish bar. At this point, there is very little to distinguish one place from another. They're all that kind of exposed-wood-pool-table-TV-screen-wooden-booth kind of places. Another way young crowd.

Last stop: the 540 Club. Not an Irish bar, thank God. We actually liked this place a lot. Divey but cool. The bartenders were totally friendly. Also fairly young crowd, but not as college-y as the other places. I guess the Yelp says it gets crowded on weekends? Not when we were there (but, again, this was at like 9 or 9:30 pm). I could see hanging out here.

Then we took a cab to the Tenderloin and some other stuff happened. The end.

10 comments:

Been to the 540 a handful of times, generally with Scout when he lived out that way. Nice physical plant, tolerable crowd. A little Kilowatt, a little 500 Club, a dash of Dovre. If you need a local out there, you could do worse.

The husband and I went to Ireland's 32 to see a friend's band play. The crowd was all college age, and they spent more time taking photos for their Facebook pages and acting like they were having fun than actually having fun. It made us feel really old.

Oh, and congrats on your move! I'm a big fan of the Inner Richmond. I have many friends that live out that way, so I'm sure I will be bumping into you in the bars.

Congrats, dude. I love me some Inner Richmond, especially since the 44 runs super late and will transport me back to Glen Park in just enough time to hit the last call at The Station. Not that I've done that several times. 540 Club is generally a great bet, but the true entertainment --and by that I mean weirdness-- is at the bar behind Ireland's 32. My friends had a techno night going there for a while, but the vibe is so strange that it must by explored in person. Speaking of Sober January, my Dry Djanuary was pretty easy until our first weekend at the ski cabin when I realized that Tahoe is not as fun without Bushmill's... Alas...

Although its not Inner Richmond, definitely make the trip out to the Tee Off, Clement around 32nd. Dive bar, pool tables, ping pong out back, yada yada. The food is fantastic! Two smokers on the back patio, BBQ sause recipe battles any that I had while living in The South. And a million calorie mac and chesse that is amazing. Check it out!

About Me

TK lives and works in San Francisco. He occasionally travels to places east of the Caldecott Tunnel, but not very often. His interests include bars, reality TV, and irony. Things seem to be going fine.